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1 The burden of the word of þe Lord to Israel by Malachi.

2 I haue loued you, sayth the Lord: yet yee say, Wherein hast thou loued vs? was not Esau Iacobs brother, sayth the Lord ? yet I loued Iacob,

3 And I hated Esau, and layde his mountaines, and his heritage waste, for the dragons of the wildernesse.

4 Whereas Edom sayth, Wee are impouerished, but we will returne and build the desolate places; Thus sayth the Lord of hostes, They shal build, but I will throw downe; and they shal call them, The border of wickednesse, & the people against whom the Lord hath indignation for euer.

5 And your eyes shall see, and yee shall say; The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.

6 ¶ A sonne honoureth his father, and a seruant his Master. If then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is my feare, saith the Lord of hostes, vnto you O priests, that despise my name? and yee say, Wherein haue we despised thy name?

7 Yee offer polluted bread vpon mine altar; and yee say, Wherein haue we polluted thee? In that yee say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.

8 And if hee offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not euill? and if yee offer the lame and sicke, is it not euill? offer it now vnto thy gouernour: will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hostes?

9 And now I pray you, beseech God, that hee will be gracious vnto vs: this hath beene by your meanes: will he regard your persons, saith the Lord of hostes?

10 Who is there euen among you that would shut the doores for nought? neither doe yee kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I haue no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hostes, neither will I accept an offring at your hand.

11 For from the rising of the Sunne, euen vnto the going downe of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in euery place incense shall be offered vnto my name, and a pure offring: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hostes.

12 ¶ But yee haue prophaned it, in that yee say; The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruite thereof, euen his meate, is contemptible.

13 Yee said also; Behold what a wearinesse is it, and yee haue snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hostes, and yee brought that which was torne, and the lame, and the sicke: thus yee brought an offring: should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord ?

14 But cursed be the deceiuer, which hath in his flocke a male, and voweth and sacrificeth vnto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hostes, and my name is dreadfull among the heathen.

Viewing the original 1611 KJV with archaic English spelling
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Commentary for Malachi 1

Malachi was the last of the prophets, and is supposed to have prophesied B.C. 420. He reproves the priests and the people for the evil practices into which they had fallen, and invites them to repentance and reformation, with promises of the blessings to be bestowed at the coming of the Messiah. And now that prophecy was to cease, he speaks clearly of the Messiah, as nigh at hand, and directs the people of God to keep in rememberance the law of Moses, while they were in expectation of the gospel of Christ.The ingratitude of Israel. (1-5) They are careless in God's institutions. (6-14)1-5 All advantages, either as to outward circumstances, or spiritual privileges, come from the free love of God, who makes one to differ from another. All the evils sinners feel and fear, are the just recompence of their crimes, while all their hopes and comforts are from the unmerited mercy of the Lord. He chose his people that they might be holy. If we love him, it is because he has first loved us; yet we all are prone to undervalue the mercies of God, and to excuse our own offences.

6-14 We may each charge upon ourselves what is here charged upon the priests. Our relation to God, as our Father and Master, strongly obliges us to fear and honour him. But they were so scornful that they derided reproof. Sinners ruin themselves by trying to baffle their convictions. Those who live in careless neglect of holy ordinances, who attend on them without reverence, and go from them under no concern, in effect say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. They despised God's name in what they did. It is evident that these understood not the meaning of the sacrifices, as shadowing forth the unblemished Lamb of God; they grudged the expense, thinking all thrown away which did not turn to their profit. If we worship God ignorantly, and without understanding, we bring the blind for sacrifice; if we do it carelessly, if we are cold, dull, and dead in it, we bring the sick; if we rest in the bodily exercise, and do not make heart-work of it, we bring the lame; and if we suffer vain thoughts and distractions to lodge within us, we bring the torn. And is not this evil? Is it not a great affront to God, and a great wrong and injury to our own souls? In order to the acceptance of our actions with God, it is not enough to do that which, for the matter of it, is good; but we must do it from a right principle, in a right manner, and for a right end. Our constant mercies from God, make worse our slothfulness and niggardliness, in our returns of duty to God. A spiritual worship shall be established. Incense shall be offered to God's name, which signifies prayer and praise. And it shall be a pure offering. When the hour came, in which the true worshippers worshipped the Father in Spirit and in truth, then this incense was offered, even this pure offering. We may rely on God's mercy for pardon as to the past, but not for indulgence to sin in future. If there be a willing mind, it will be accepted, though defective; but if any be a deceiver, devoting his best to Satan and to his lusts, he is under a curse. Men now, though in a different way, profane the name of the Lord, pollute his table, and show contempt for his worship.

Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.

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